Norwalk School District educators told the Board of Education curriculum committee on Dec. 28 that a set of classroom practices known as Building Thinking Classrooms has increased student engagement and produced early evidence of academic growth in elementary classrooms.

Misty Hofer, who leads district math training and supports coaches, said the approach "are practices that support your students and allow you as a teacher to shift into a different mode, which is really all about fostering, monitoring, and promoting higher order thinking." Hofer told the committee the district began summer trainings and outside workshops after the pedagogy's 2020 publications and has expanded professional development this year.

Amy Tobin, math coach at Fox Run Elementary, described concrete classroom routines: "Because it's a whiteboard, students are much more keen to try unfamiliar strategies because they can erase it," she said, explaining that vertical whiteboards and 'white books' let students stand, write, collaborate in visibly random triads and reflect on their process rather than only producing answers.

Teachers from three elementary schools described how the routines supported multilingual learners and students with special needs. Julie Senor, a fifth-grade teacher at Jefferson, said the class designs "have significantly improved how all of my students, especially my special education students, engage with math," and cited a nonverbal autistic student who took the role of the classroom 'writer' during board work.

Colin Page, a fifth-grade teacher at Fox Run, said task design and timed questioning are key: he described a Great Pacific Garbage Patch activity that asked students to make predictions, compute area and explain their reasoning in words. "The kids come into my room and they'll ask, 'Are we going to whiteboards today?'" he said, reflecting strong student demand for the routines.

Teachers emphasized supports for multilingual learners: Kelly Gonzalez, a dual-language teacher at Jefferson, said she provides English-and-Spanish vocabulary and culturally relevant tasks (for example, using tamales to teach fractions) so newcomers can contribute in home language and practice English. Alexis Esperance, a fourth-grade teacher at Marvin, said a collaboration rubric and self-assessment number line helped students hold themselves accountable: "They will say, 'well, you're not sharing your ideas,' and they'll work with each other," she said.

Presenters described both qualitative and quantitative evidence. Coaches and teachers reported visible social and cognitive engagement in classrooms; district staff also said Smarter Balanced results in the three early-adopter schools showed continued growth for high-needs students and others where decline is normally seen by grades 4–5. A board member asked for more detail on the assessment graphs; presenters said scaffolds and classroom examples explain the effect and that they would continue to share data.

Misty Hofer said the district will continue coach-led planning, school-to-school intervisitations and a planned local video library to highlight teacher practice and promote peer learning. The committee attempted to play a classroom video during the meeting but experienced audio problems and continued with the slide presentation.

Board members tied the work to the district's Portrait of a Graduate, noting that increased student talk and problem-solving align with goals for critical thinking and communication. No formal actions or votes were taken; presenters and board members closed the meeting by thanking teachers for early adoption and pilot leadership as the district expands the approach.

The district plans to continue summer and in-year professional development and to collect and share additional assessment results as more teachers implement Building Thinking Classrooms.